Do you think HBO and Showtime called each other up and said, "Hey, let's make the DVRs of America work overtime on the third Sunday of January"?

It sure seems that way, does it not?

Three series return to the pay cable channels, and a fourth, the freshman series "United States of Tara," trumps them all as the new "it" show. What, nobody could find another night for all of this?

While "Tara" (see review on Page E1) is a real sensation, Showtime follows it with Season 2 of the Brit import "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," which manages to maintain the quality of Season 1 while simultaneously making you realize it was better than you remembered.

Over on HBO, "Big Love" begins Season 3 of its polygamy saga in much the same manner, only with much higher initial expectations. But other than the emergence of "Tara" as a series to watch, the real affirmation of the night is Season 2 of "Flight of the Conchords," which flat-out cements the quirky brilliance of "New Zealand's fourth most popular folk parody duo."

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Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement return as, well, themselves, sad-sack Kiwi slackers trying to make a go of it musically in New York. They are failing. In fact, they are failing even worse than last season, if that's possible.

'Flight of the Conchords'

"Flight of the Conchords," in case you've missed the cult sensation of it all, really is a band with McKenzie and Clement, better known to their adoring fans as simply Bret and Jemaine. HBO took their musical parody schtick and turned the songs into narrative bits in a sublime comedy, which was one of the great finds of 2007. The duo - always just themselves, no pretense or much of that rock god nonsense - put out an acclaimed album and toured to sold-out shows, building their fan base and hopefully increasing the ratings on their fledgling slice of genius over at HBO.

Season 2 finds them still scrambling for gigs. They're playing libraries but are always getting shushed. Their manager, Murray (Rhys Darby), is enjoying the tail end of managing a far more successful but cheesier band, and Bret and Jemaine are forced to fire him.

In the first three episodes, it's pretty clear that fame and fortune are eluding our cherished duo in a series of unfortunate events:

-- They are reduced to making a jingle about toothpaste for women only.

-- Bret sends their lives even further below the poverty line by buying a second cup for the apartment (total cost: $2.97), which temporarily forces them into prostitution (and an homage to "Midnight Cowboy") and, worse, forces them to give Mel (Kristin Schaal), their only and lonely married fan, a massage.

-- Bret's impromptu (and not very creative) rap song dissing other rappers sparks fears of a turf war, stoked by their friend Dave (Arj Barker), which prompts Bret to create his own gang and, eventually - as you knew it would - an homage to "West Side Story" happens.

The level of cleverness of "Flight of the Conchords" is off the charts. There are the actual song parodies (keep an ear out for Jemaine's claim that the ladies love his sugar lumps). And there are the droll situations (Murray reviewing the band in print and giving it two stars. "Two out of five stars?" Bret asks, incredulously. "Well, I wish it was," Murray says. "But it's out of 100."). More laughs have never come from such a lack of effort. "Flight of the Conchords" remains one of the funniest series on television.

'Big Love'

"Big Love" doesn't have the same kind of laughs, but it's got the drama down pat. With the possibility of a fourth wife entering the family in Season 3, you don't know whether to pity or cheer for Bill (Bill Paxton). And yet, there's still an odd disconnect in this fine series.

I wrote last season that there were two problems in "Big Love." One was that by the middle of Season 2, audiences weren't mesmerized by the plural-marriage conceit. Bill's three wives, seven (eight?) kids and three houses had been reduced to a kind of normalcy as he tried to fit into society. Second, but most important, as a polygamist, Bill doesn't inspire compassion, and it could be argued that he's not very likable.

Dramatically, that's a risk because Bill isn't a typical anti-hero. "Big Love" just doesn't induce love. And yet, the series crafts compelling stories. How is it that season after season, "Big Love" can hook you into watching multiple episodes but somehow falls short of making you care about the characters? It's a conundrum. Watching with interest but not actually caring is unique, but "Big Love" itself may no longer be.

'Secret Diary of a Call Girl'

Maybe because expectations aren't as high for "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," the impact of the Brit import, starring Billie Piper, ends up being greater. (There are also only eight episodes, so you don't grow tired of it as quickly.) At times slight - the trick of talking into the camera was never novel, and the absence of an erotic backbone made it feel partly contrived - "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" nevertheless ends up at an unexpected place: smartly satisfying.

Perhaps because London serves as a vital backdrop, much as New York did in "Sex and the City," there's a vibrancy to the look of this series that is easy to miss. The dialogue is quick and funny and assured, even if it falls somewhere short of enlightened. Belle, the "high-class call girl," never regrets her career decision but is less stoic and assured when real feelings are involved. The supporting players continue to be a strength, particularly Ben (Iddo Goldberg) as Belle/Hannah's best friend, and Callum Blue appears this year and fits in seamlessly.

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Some people believe there's a self-satisfied gloss to "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" that undercuts its ambitions, but more often, there's surprise at how much you've underestimated its quality.

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